Aladdin- Live Action 2019 - Guy Ritchie

expectationlost

tunguska wrote: »

Saw this last night, going in with zero expectations. I havent even seen the Robin williams version so I had no preconceptions either. Have to say I loved it. Alarm bells went off when Will smith broke into song within the first 2 minutes.......Had no idea I'd signed up for a musical. Expectations were now even lower. But it won me over, songs musical numbers and all. It had this really positive vibe to it, good pure fun, a film you could definitely take the kids to without any fears. The screening I went to the entire audience broke into spontaneous applause at the end, which is something I never see happen. All in all a lovely film with a great message.

have you been stuck a in lamp for years?

lbc2019

Watched it tonight. Impressed. Loved Jasmines new song- Speechless Agree that Jafar (And the sultan) were pretty ropey tho

justinbellford

Aladdin and Jasmine were really good.

Jafar was a huge let down.

Genie was very middle of the road for me. Liked some things, others, I just missed having Robin Williams.

Updated versions of the songs worked most of the time.

6.5-7/10

LoughNeagh2017

I liked the film but I never watched the original as a child, I only saw the original last week.

I felt uncomfortable watching the speechless song as it was obviously stuck in there because of this modern feminazi mindset.

I liked Will Smith as I was a big fan of him when I was young, the first CD I ever bought was his Willenium cd.

Watching this now. I want to love it but i really don't.

After the genie, the next best character in the original was Iago the parrot who is mostly absent in this film.

Jafar is about 30 years too young.

Also, I've worked with more beautiful Indian ladies than the actress playing Jasmine.

StringerBell

What the **** does that matter?!

I liked it, Aladdin and Jasmine both turned in great performances, genie was uneven as expected but not a car crash. Jafar was poor alright, the music makes the film same as the original and that new song speechless is actually really good, went down every well with my kids anyway.

JP Liz V1

Sequel in the Works

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/aladdin-2-works-guy-ritchie-direct-1279150

DonnaNol

I love Robbie Williams's version of Ginny. But this remake came out better than I expected.

The Phantom Pain

Arabian niiiiights with Canadian Acccccents!!!

Late to the party but caught this on Disney plus. I was a huge fan of Aladdin as a kid. I even like the (underrated) sequels and used to run home everyday after school to watch the TV series adaptation on the Disney channel, along with Hercules and The Little Mermaid (anyone here remember the Aladdin/Hercules crossover?) I owned the magic lamp replica too lol

I don’t want to sound like one of those insufferable oldies that pretends everything new is bad and everything in the “good ol’ days” were good but imma be honest, I was watching this film through my fingers!!!! Will Smith looked so embarrassed to be there that when Genie said that in 10,000 years he had never been more embarrassed I believed him (and this coming from a guy who released Willennium so you know he wasn't exaggerating). 

The film looked so cheap and small. The costumes, the locations, the directing. Oh my god, the directing. Guy Ritchie was the worst possible choice. What was Disney thinking? He does not know how to direct musicals clearly. The camera work was rubbish. Zack Snyder would have been a better pick because at least he has the visual flair to pull it off and plenty of experience directing music videos (literally, I think he started off as a music video director actually). 

The actors do their best but they are let down by a director who is completely out of his depth. Firstly, Robin Williams’ performance was so legendary that you’re just never gonna outdo him so if you're ballsy enough to take on Genie you have to go the other way entirely. When Will Smith was being Will Smith he was great as his natural charisma carried him through but whenever he parroted Williams’ original lines it fell flat. Was he even in the same room as Mena Massoud when he was all cgi’d up? Why was his eye tracking off? And genie’s forced love interest seemed to be a serious case of the notgays.

Mena Massoud certainly has the smile, dimples and eyelash length to play Aladdin but he lacks a certain something that I can’t put my finger on. His performance almost felt like a caricature of Aladdin. And why did he get a Leo DiCaprio circa 1997 haircut when he became Prince Ali? 

I was sceptical of Naomi Scott’s casting but she was the best thing about it. Not only does she have endless charm and charisma, she is also so beautiful and radiant; like a young Sarah Michelle Gellar. Plus the girl can saaaang. I do think it’s funny how Disney omitted the sexy seduction sequence from the original to appear more progressive yet felt the need to force in a white prince to appease brown-phobic audiences when the original from 1992 did not have a single white person in it.... 

The less said about the actor who plays Jafar the better. Jafar is supposed to be deliciously villainous in a fun, campy way. This bulging eyed, manic performance just aint it. Again, not the actor's fault. It’s Guy Ritchie letting the poor fellow fall flat on his face.

Lastly, I don’t know who but somebody needs to be doing 25 to life for murdering A Whole New World like that and it’s not the two leads because they did a good job with what they were given. The musical arrangement, like most of the music in this, was just pants. The original is uplifting.  Magical.  Breathtaking.  This new arrangement made it sound almost sombre. How the bleeding hell do you mess up A Whole New World? How?! That song carries itself. All you have to do is just do it. Even the end credits version of it was bad with the stupid-ass electric drums dating it instantly.

The worst part is that sometimes I caught myself enjoying this nonsense. Had to shake myself as a reminder that it’s rubbish lol. For instance, I like the new song, 'Speechless', probably because it didn't have an original to compare to, although the hook sounds suspiciously like ‘SOS’ by Abba. I did enjoy the end credits reprise of Friend Like Me and I did get a little tear in the eye when Aladdin used his last wish to set Genie free but that’s just leftover feels from the original!

Overall, though, it was terrible. It was fun to sit through only because it brought back warm memories but that doesn’t mean it was good. I won't let nostalgia blind me - Disney should stick to just supporting their studios because their in-house is past its prime now. Let us remember your classics as they were and not these cheap-ass pantomimes you’re adapting them into for an easy cash-grab.

The Phantom Pain

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/110284214#Comment_110284214

Absolutely f*cking not.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/110284214#Comment_110284214

That's just giving this film credit it doesn't deserve - the feminist angle was always there in the original. Jasmine was never happy to be a, "prize to be won". That's why the evolution of it here felt so naturally woven into the plot.